


Elements of an Apocalypse

by dontcryMasha



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, BAMF Castiel, F/M, M/M, more plot than smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-14 19:33:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3422996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontcryMasha/pseuds/dontcryMasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life had been fairly normal for Sam and Dean Winchester. Sure, they had their troubles and pains, but those were soon dwarfed by the mysterious and violent destruction of their home city. Could it be that the brothers are the last two humans on Earth, doomed to die alone? Perhaps there is a greater plan at work, and facing a broken civilization is only the first step to a grand yet dangerous journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It began as a normal day for Sam and Dean, two brothers who lived near the city. When Sam (the younger at 24) wasn’t working on his studies and when Dean (four years the elder) wasn’t working on cars, they left the city and pursued their hobby of game hunting. It was something that their late father had been fond of, and Dean grew to like as well. Sam wasn’t quite the fan, but he went along because he thought it was the right thing to do.

As the week's hunt was coming to a close and Dean put the buck they shot in the back of his pickup truck, Sam went ahead and got inside. He had been feeling _weird_ somehow, Sam thought, so he was looking at the news on his phone just in case.

“What’s up?” Dean asked after he got in the driver’s side.

“Eh, nothing really,” Sam replied, scratching his head but not taking his eyes off of his phone. “It’s dumb.”

“I bet it is.”

Dean chuckled as he started the engine, but Sam wasn’t amused. There were indeed numerous reports of bad weather and people dying—not just the usual amounts that you see when you investigate, but odd, odd things that made Sam feel nauseous.

They left the woods and got onto the highway. The skies above were cloudy and Sam remained quiet.

“What’s going on with you all the sudden?” Dean asked.

“Promise not to laugh?”

Dean glanced at his brother quickly, smirking. “You know I can’t make a promise like _that_.”

There was never a shortage of being teased when it came to the Winchester boys, and nine times out of ten it was Dean who instigated it.

“Fair enough,” Sam sighed. He turned off his phone and looked out of the window. The sky was too dark for that time of day especially since the radar showed no signs of rain. “I just feel weird. Something's off. Do you feel it, too?”

“Sure,” said Dean.

Sam’s face softened.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I got the buck of the season and I haven’t had a beer yet. Definitely feels off.”

That was no surprise. Sam should have seen it coming. He just sighed quietly to himself and said nothing more, even though Dean thought it was pretty funny. He jostled Sam’s shoulder and said, “C’mon, Sammy, lighten up. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that big ole brain of yours.”

“I guess so.”

Under the heavy and ominously silent clouds, the boys made it back to their little house in the busy suburbs. It was a nice one-level place in a quiet neighborhood, which was remarkable considering its close proximity to the main city.

“Help me pull him out back,” said Dean, tugging the hind legs of their kill down the truck bed. Sam joined Dean and they brought the buck to the rear porch together.

“Boys,” a low, warm voice said as soon as they came back. Sam and Dean looked up to see the man they shared the house with. He was the proper owner and before Dean turned 18, their legal guardian—Bobby Singer.

“Hey Bobby,” said Dean.

“Nice shot,” the older man said. He came down to their level and peered at the stag beneath the brim of an old baseball cap.

Bobby had been a great father figure for the boys growing up. He got Dean started on mechanics but also helped out with their hunting sport, since their blood father knew Bobby through an old gun club and that just made sense. Maybe it was out of respect to him that Sam also hunted.

“I’d say it’s the best yet,” Dean boasted. “But Sammy here doesn’t care. He thinks we’re gonna have a tornado or something.”

“I never said that,” Sam protested. Tornados hadn’t occurred to him, but hearing the word uttered by Dean made his stomach turn. “I just…never mind.”

“I sense some tension ‘tween the two of you,” said Bobby.

“Nope, nothing like that,” Dean reassured him. Sam rolled his eyes.

“Either way, nothing a couple a’ beers can’t fix, huh?”

Dean rubbed his hands together. “Hook me up,” he said with a grin of delight.

After a round of drinks that Sam attempted to calm himself with, he went to bed early feeling bad. Dean and Bobby stayed up skinning and prepping the deer, but Sam crawled into bed and stared out of his window. The clouds were still thick and heavy up above but no rain fell. Light pollution from the city was turning them slightly orange. Sam folded his arms behind his head and wondered if anyone else was worried about it.

Up until recently, Sam would have texted Jessica Moore, his now ex-girlfriend. They had met when he first started college and had what he thought was a great relationship, but one week prior she told him off and said he had been too boring for her or something. It was devastating and painful. Now, more than ever, Sam wished he had someone other than his immature brother and old burnout Bobby to talk about his feelings with. It was going to be a long night.

After tossing and turning for a few hours, Sam finally managed to fall asleep. It didn’t last long, though, since around 4 am, he awoke to a strange noise. It was like a mosquito tone, painfully amplified so that the origin was impossible to determine. Sam jumped out of bed and held his hands over his ears.

“GAAH! DEAAAN!”

Great flashes of light accompanied the noise. Sam’s window was an orchestra of bright blue lightning, blasting around in the clouds and glowing within the city.

“Oh, God! Oh, God!”

Ears still covered, Sam kicked open his door and ran into Dean’s room. He wasn’t there.

“Damn!”

Now Sam noticed the floor was vibrating. The tone remained and all of the windows continued to flash with bright blue bolts of energy. He went to Bobby’s room next, but ran straight into Dean in the hallway. He had his ears covered, too.

“ _Sam!_ ” Dean mouthed.

“What’s going on!!” Sam yelled. Dean shook his head, clearly unable to read lips very well.

Bobby came from his bedroom just then with shooter’s earmuffs on. He grabbed the boys by their collars and pulled them through the kitchen. Sam noted that all the window glass was vibrating. His heart raced so fast he could barely keep up.

Ever resourceful and prepared, Bobby had a safe room instead of a basement. It was basically a fallout shelter, accessible through a hatch in the floor. The three of them silently climbed down and Bobby turned on a flashlight. It was a cold, stone room with nothing but the comfort of necessary supplies. Down there, the buzzing noise stopped. Bobby removed his earmuffs and the brothers rested their arms.

“What’s going on?!” Sam gasped. He had already broken out into a sweat.

“Damned if I know,” said Bobby. He looked funny in a thick, flannel bathrobe. “Some Osama bomber or somethin’. Wish I didn’t have to know, but it looks like I gotta.”

Dean looked tired.

“Nothing we can’t handle, right?” he asked Bobby. It was unclear if by “we” he meant America of his immediate family.

“I don’t _know_ , boy,” Bobby grunted. “Stay down here ‘til it’s safe. I’m gonna try to see if I can get reception.”

Bobby waved his phone around before putting his earmuffs back on, then he ascended the ladder out, leaving Sam and Dean in the cold room light only by the single flashlight.

“Swear to God,” Dean groaned, “If Bobby’s overprotectiveness keeps me from shooting some terrorists, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“Dean, stop.”

“What?”

Sam had his face in his hands.

“Sam, what’s wrong?”

“This doesn’t look like a terrorist attack.”

“How do you know?”

“What makes a buzzing noise like that?”

Dean shrugged.

“Some device they built before us?”

“Did you look outside?” asked Sam.

“No. Why? I saw there was light but I didn’t have time to study it.”

“It was lightning, blue lightning. No modern technology has been able to control the atmosphere like that. This is something very, very bad.”

Instead of over worrying like Sam, Dean shrugged it off and sat down on a crate. He grabbed one of many beers and took a big sip.

“Bobby’ll figure it out.”

_BANG!_

There was a great noise up above that even shook the shelter. Dean didn’t pay any mind to it, but Sam froze. He took the flashlight and looked around.

_BANG!_

Again, everything shook.

“Better not cave in,” Dean grunted between casual sips.

“Stop,” Sam hissed. “This is serious.”

The bangs and tremors built up to a rate of about one every ten seconds then stayed that way for an hour. By then, Dean’s boredom shifted to worry as well.

“Bobby should’ve been back by now,” he admitted, pacing with Sam now.

“Do you think we should go up?”

“Probably.”

“What if whatever got Bobby is up there?”

This was a challenge to Dean. He liked that. Sam wasn’t as pleased, but Dean loaded one of the handguns down there and went to the ladder.

“But you stay here, okay?”

“How long until I go to check on you?”

“I’ll just peek out and see what’s going on.”

“All right,” Sam agreed. He sat down on that crate and put his hands in his lap nervously as he watched Dean open the latched and climb out.

“SAM!”

Right away, Dean came back with a look on his face that nobody had ever seen before. He had gone completely white and his eyes were wide open. He couldn’t close his mouth.

“What? What it is?” asked Sam. He stood up and went to the ladder.

“I-it’s…”

“Dean??”

“ _I don’t know what the fuck happened_.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Let me come out.”

Silently, Dean nodded and went back out, motioning for Sam to follow. There was light through the latch—welcome at first until Sam realized what it came from.

The entire roof was blown off of the house. The windows were shattered, nothing was together and the clouds opened up to a hazy, sad sunrise. Sam held his breath. He couldn’t believe it. This was nothing short of a waking nightmare.

“Where’s Bobby?” he asked in a choked voice.

Dean began to walk through the rubble. You could see the other houses in the neighborhood through the crumbling walls, and they appeared to be in the same shape. Billows of smoke were rising all over. The world was oddly silent.

“How could this happen in just an hour?” Sam asked. He took steps in the opposite direction as Dean.

“Where the fuck _is_ Bobby?!” Dean grunted.

“Dean…”

Sam walked over to where the living room had been and stopped. His tall, broad figure stood still and looked down. Dean ran over to him.

“What? Oh, GOD!”

On the floor, between crumbled pieces of brick and wood paneling was a freshly singed corpse. The flannel robe was partially discernable.

“Bo-bby!” Dean cried. “What the fu-u-uck!”

Holding back his tears, Sam grabbed his brother’s arm and tried to console him.

“Dean, stop,” he said calmly. “Whatever happened to Bobby might happen to us. We need to get out of here, fast.”

“You’re right, you’re right.”

As if he had been injected with courage, Dean put himself together and stormed off to where his room had been. He tried to find clothes and other necessities. Sam did the same, and in a matter of a few minutes, they had dressed then packed several bags brought them out front. Luckily, the truck was still there. It was dented and the back window was busted out, but Dean was confident that she would start.

“This can’t be happening,” Sam groaned as he took his usual seat.

“Well, it is.”

A flood of relief went over the men once the engine started and Dean was able to drive off.

“Where are you going to go?” asked Sam.

“Let’s just assess the damage.”

The destruction was everywhere. Not a single house or building was whole, and the more they drove around, the more apparent it was that nobody was alive.

“This is kinda scary,” Dean admitted.

“There are millions of cities in the world. I’m sure…whatever this is…it hasn’t…”

Sam’s voice broke off here. He was trembling. The reality was starting to settle in.

“Let’s just keep going,” said Dean.

He cleared his throat loudly and took the highway into the city. There were some cars on the road, but they were empty. The brothers said nothing as they kept driving. The devastation was so horrifying.

“Woah! Hold on!”

Dean hit the break.

“AAGH!!” Sam shouted. He hadn’t put his seatbelt on, so the sudden stop sent him flying forward.

“Sorry. But look, a chick!”

Dean pointed to the side of the road, where a thin, young woman with dark hair was standing and trying to wave them down. Dean licked his lips.

“Nice.”

“Focus for a second,” Sam interrupted. “Let’s go talk to her, but be careful. We have _no_ idea who she is or what she’s doing, nor what’s happening to the city.”

“Okay, okay. Ugh.”

He drove off to the side and got out of the car.

“Hey.”

The woman approached Dean with a dazed look in her eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked softly.

“Dean. What about you?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t remember.”

Looking her over, she was clearly beat up. Her clothes were torn and dirtied and she had numerous cuts and scrapes. Sam got out and joined Dean’s side. He felt like he was twice her height.

“Are you all right?” Sam asked the woman.

“I think so…”

“Where did you come from?”

“I…I don’t remember…”

“You don’t remember anything? Anything at all?” Sam asked. The woman gave him a sad look. Sam nodded to his brother. “I’m sure it’s just a little amnesia from head trauma. You’ll be okay. Let’s get you into the truck and you can come with us.”

Dean grinned and Sam rolled his eyes.

“Thanks,” the woman said blankly. She had a limp. Sam gave her his arm for assistance with walking. “Who are you?”

“My name is Sam. Dean is my brother. We live around here, and we’re trying to figure out what happened, too.”

“Sam and Dean. Okay. I can deal with that.”

The woman got up into the backseat and settled, grunting painfully a bit.

“All right?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Thanks, Sam.” They exchanged smiles.

“OKAY!” Dean interrupted. He laughed nervously. “Let’s keep—hah—going, right?”

“Right,” said Sam.

“Where are we going?”

“Just trying to figure out what happened,” said Dean.

“Well,” Sam added, “We found one person alive, so I’m sure there are more. We’re going to find them all.”

“Mm,” the woman hummed. “It’s terrible, huh?”

“I can’t even describe what the hell is going on here,” grumped Dean.

They took the highway into the downtown area, which proved to be just as desolate and destroyed—overturned cars, bodies burnt to a crisp—the carnage didn’t stop and that did nothing for everyone’s mood.

“Hey, I got an idea,” said Dean. He parked the truck in front of a grocery store.

“Dean…”

“Nobody’s in there, right? And the food will just go bad if nobody eats it soon.”

“True…”

“Oh, I’m real hungry,” the woman chimed in.

“No, no, you should stay in here as long as you’re injured,” said Sam. “Dean, can you get some first aid supplies, too?”

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll be right back.”

Grinning, Dean got out of the truck and ran into the grocer’s. Their female guest sat up and watched him. “Is he allowed to do that?” she asked.

“ _Technically_ it’s illegal,” Sam explained. “But since nobody’s here, I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t see any cops or security to stop him, and he’s got a point.” He turned around and smiled at the woman. “Sorry about whatever happened to you.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” the woman said. “And I could say the same to you.”

“You really don’t remember anything?”

“No…”

Sam sighed. “I _wish_ I could forget what just happened to us.”

The woman reached out and put her hand on Sam’s shoulder. Her touch was tender and quite welcome. “It’s okay,” she said, smiling sweetly. “For what it’s worth, we have each other.”

Sam laughed.

“Oh, wow, that’s so cheesy. And to think we just met.”

“These are tough times.”

They both laughed.

Dean, however, was not having as much fun. Grocery stores weren’t nice when the electricity was cut and everything was falling apart. He grabbed a bunch of bags from the registers and started filling them up with food that wasn’t melting. It was starting to occur to Dean that he might not have running water for a little while, and that was freaking him out. He snatched all kinds of body care products ranging from toothpaste to deodorant to soap and even baby wipes.

“Okay, should be good for some time,” Dean said once he came back out to the truck. He pushed the bags onto the seat beside the woman and got back into his position. She immediately began rummaging through. Sam watched her. “I think we need to come up with a name for you,” he said.

“How about Babe?” Dean suggested. Sam sighed.

“No, that’s so disrespectful.” He looked at the woman. “What would _you_ like?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe your real one will come back to you,” said Sam. “Most amnesia cases regain their memories.”

“Chick,” Dean interrupted.

“No.”

“Tits? Haha.”

“Dean!”

“Yeah, you’re right. They’re too small for that.”

“Let’s just call her Lady. How about that?”

The woman nodded. “I like it.”

“Okay, we’ll call you Lady until you remember your proper name,” said Sam.

Lady popped open a bag of potato chips. She offered some to the men, which Sam refused but Dean grabbed a handful of.

“Our house is wrecked,” Sam told Lady, “And I assume you don’t know of a place to stay.”

“Nope.”

“Dean, let’s try to keep an eye out for a sturdy enough building to set up camp in.”

“Sure.”


	3. Chapter 3

 

As they wound through the streets of downtown, avoiding the crashed cars and piles of debris, Sam tried to piece together what may have happened. Even the tallest office buildings had windows broken out up above, and several of them had collapsed entirely (the worry of more doing that was heavy in Sam’s mind).

“Hey, look over there,” Dean pointed out. There was a house still in one piece.

“Pull over,” said Sam.

Dean drove into the driveway and got out. He looked around. He listened. It felt like the _entire world_ was silent.

“See if anybody is home,” Sam suggested from the window. Dean nodded and walked up to the door.

“Hell-oo!!” He called, knocking loudly. “Leftovers here. Don’t wanna eat your brain. Just looking for shelter…urm…we got food!”

The door was unlocked so he walked right in. Sure, things were broken and knocked over, but for the most part the house managed to be in good shape.

“It’s clear!” Dean shouted out to Sam once he scanned every room.

“Okay, we’re coming in.”

Sam helped Lady get out, then carefully guided her inside. The house was a split level, but they decided it would be smartest to stay on the ground and basement levels, in case there were more tremors or debris falling on the roof. Dean got his groceries from the car and put them in the dining room. Sam dragged beds down from the top floor and put them into the den, which was next to the kitchen. There were only two bedrooms upstairs, so they had a queen size and a twin mattress to deal with.

“Maybe we can take turns,” said Dean.

“We’ll figure something out. I’m not too worried about that. Come here, Lady. Rest here.”

While Sam made up the queen mattress for the woman, Dean tried to find space for his supplies. He went into the kitchen and turned the tap on, but a cry of deep disappointment sounded when no water ran.

“What am I gonna do,” he sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Sam called.

“There’s no water.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Well, we’re gonna need it!”

“Maybe you can go patrol and find some?”

“Okay, okay.”

“I’ll stay here and make sure Lady is okay,” said Sam. “You can look for anything useful, then when you come back, I’ll go.”

“Cool.”

Dean geared up and went to the door.

“Stay on foot,” Sam warned. “We don’t know the next time we’ll be able to get gas, if ever.”

“ _Right_.”

Dean left the house and wandered into the world alone. Lady, who was now getting comfortable in the bed, leaned back into the pillows and held Sam’s hand.

“I guess I got lucky,” she said.

“How come?”

“Of all the people to find me, you guys are really helpful and supportive.”

Sam laughed softly. “That’s true. I’m not sure how great of a support system Dean is, but he’s handy and a good guy to have around. I’m lucky he’s here, too.”

It was certainly unusual for Sam to be holding hands with a woman after only just meeting her, but this was a scary and daunting reality—one where the usual rules didn’t apply.

“I keep telling myself that we’ll find more people,” said Sam. “You know, it’s only our city and the rest of the world is fine.”

“I don’t know.”

Dean had a lucky streak, too, since it didn’t take much walking to find a convenience store that had gallon bottles of water. He grabbed a stroller that he found and, trying to ignore the gruesomeness of an abandoned baby carrier, piled as many bottles as he could into it. The storage capability impressed him.

“How’s this?” Dean called out as he pushed the stroller through the front door of their hideout. Sam peered around the threshold of the bedroom and laughed.

“Pretty un-Dean of you.”

“I gotta do what I gotta do,” said Dean. “And I was thinking we should have a codeword or something to get inside, since practically anybody can just walk in.”

“Oh, that’s a good point,” Sam agreed. “Hmm…”

“How ‘bout Led Zeppelin?”

Sam sighed loudly. “Okay, fine.”

“So when you’re coming home, knock and yell ‘Led Zeppelin!’ That way, the guys inside know that it’s safe.”

“That’s good. Do you think you could stay here for a while so I can explore?”

“Sure.”

Sam got up and checked the gun on him. He nodded to himself and then at Dean. “Keep an eye on Lady. Maybe set the—“

“I can figure it out,” Dean interrupted. “Don’t forget who’s the older brother now, Sammy. Let me do that taking care of. You do what you gotta do and be safe, all right?”

“Sure, Dean. Sure.”

Sam left and Dean went back to his groceries. He cleared space in the kitchen to put the supplies, which were mostly canned goods.

“Hey, Lady?”

“Yeah?”

“You hungry?”

“Yeah.”

Dean looked around the kitchen. He had found the pots and pans, but without a working stove, how could he heat food up?

“Any chance there’s a fireplace in there?” Dean asked.

“Um…yeah, actually.”

“Really? Awesome.”

Dean came in and saw that there was indeed a fireplace. It was beat up and poorly maintained, probably even before the disaster, but it was the safest way to heat anything up.

With enough scrap wood and paper from around the house and already inside the fireplace, Dean lit it up and watched it burn. In the meantime, he had opened a couple of cans of soup and dumped them into a pot. Once the fire was big enough, he held the pot over the flames.

“Won’t that tire your arm?” asked Lady.

“Eh. There are worse things. I’ve cooked over fire pits before so it’s not a big deal.”

“How long will it take?”

“Couple minutes.”

They sat there, mostly in silence, and waited for the soup to warm. Dean stirred it with a large spoon a couple times to keep the heating even, and twice he switched hands. When it was ready, he dished out two servings but left enough for Sam.

“Where do you think he went?” Lady asked.

“Doing Sam things. It’s no surprise.”

“Is he safe?”

“’Course he is. I wouldn’t let him go if I thought he’d be in trouble. Well, no more trouble than we’re both in here.”

“Oh.”

About halfway through their meal, Lady suddenly stopped and locked up.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” asked Dean.

“No, no!” Lady cried. She dropped her soup and clung to the bed clothes, looking horrified.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Oh, it’s bad! Bad, bad, bad!” Lady said, trembling. Dean got up and tried doing the Sam thing, which was to console her.

“What’s bad? Do you hear something?”

“No! I feel it…I feel _him_ …”

“Who?”

“I-I don’t know! But I feel him, and he’s going to kill me!”

“What! How do you feel him? Who is he? What does he look like?”

Lady shook her head violently. “I don’t know, _I don’t know_!! I just feel him, that’s all!”

“Shit. What do we do? Where’s Sam?!”

Dean was torn between looking after Lady and going outside to search for Sam, but he promised his brother to watch over the woman so he decided to stay. After all, she may have been imagining the feelings. For Sam, however, things were quite different.

As he walked down yet another empty street, he froze up when he heard the sound of another being. It could have been an animal, he thought, but also maybe not. With a hand on his gun, Sam plastered himself against the wall of an ex-deli and waited, watching.

Clearly now, the sound was footsteps. Heavy, swift steps that carried a certain urgency. Sam did all he could to slow his breathing and hopefully remain unseen to whoever it was walking around. Maybe it was another survivor and they were just looking for help?

Then, around the corner came a man. He was dressed in a tan trench coat with a mess of short, dark hair on his head. He walked down the middle of the road with determination in his well-defined face.

 _Oh, God_ , Sam thought. _This is someone who knows what they’re doing. Please don’t look this way_.

Trying to hide without making noise, Sam slowly slid down into a squat. It was enough sound to catch the strange man’s attention, unfortunately. He turned to Sam and came walking over quickly.

“Aah!” Sam cried out.

“A human?” the man asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked Sam up and down.

“Wh…what?”

“Why are you still here?”

His voice was low and gruff, yet strangely calm and smooth.

“I don’t know?” Sam suggested.

“Strange. That’s very strange.”

“Um. Where did you come from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I could say the same to you,” the man said. “I am and always have been.”

“Right. Well, I’ve been living in the area my whole life, but just last night all of this crazy stuff happened, and now it looks like the city is wiped out.”

“Of course it is.”

“What?”

The man glared at Sam. He had bright blue eyes that may have been pleasant to look at if the situation wasn’t so confusing and potentially hazardous.

“Of course it is,” he repeated. “They’re all gone. I’m surprised there was a survivor.”

“What do you mean ‘all gone’? What happened?”

Now the man looked annoyed. He sighed.

“I don’t understand,” said Sam. “And I usually always understand.”

“This is making more and more sense to me,” said the man.

“What is?”

“You’re a fool. You don’t know what has happened, do you?”

Sam shook his head.

“This is the aftereffect of the Apocalypse.”

“What!”

“Indeed.”

“Revelation, Bible Apocalypse?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Because this battle was partially mine.”

“Who _are_ you?”

“I have to leave you,” the man said quickly. Sam frowned. “If a human has survived, then perhaps my brothers and sisters have.”

“I don’t understand! And there are two other surviving humans.”

“Ah…”

Sam glared at the man, but he just turned around and walked away.

“Hey, wait!” Sam called out. In a blink of an eye, the man disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

 

_BANG BANG BANG!_

“Led Zeppelin.”

“Sammy! You’re okay!”

Dean darted out from the den with a desperate smile on his face. Sam stood there, still a bit stunned from what had just happened. Lady could still be heard whining from the bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s going on?”

“She just started freaking out, saying someone is going to come kill her.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I dunno!”

Sam ran into the den and sat on the bed. He put his hands on Lady’s lap and looked in her eyes. She was crying.

“What’s wrong? Do you remember something?”

“I-I don’t know,” Lady whined. “I remember…I can _feel_ them…”

“Who?”

“There’s someone looking for me. He’s close. He’s going to kill me!”

“Who is he?”

Dean interrupted here. “I already asked her,” he said. “She doesn’t know.”

Sam looked up at his brother, frowning. “That’s weird, because I actually _found_ another person.”

“What! Who? Where are they?”

“They disappeared, I swear to God.”

“Were they even real?”

“I think so. But listen, he said that we just endured the Apocalypse.”

“What, like, Bible Apocalypse?”

“Yeah. That’s what he told me.”

“The fuck is this guy?”

“I said I don’t know. But he had dark hair and a trench coat, and he was walking around like he knew exactly what was going on. He said he was going to look for his brothers and sisters.”

Dean looked to Lady. “Is that the guy?” he asked.

“I don’t know!”

“Damn. Okay, well if this weirdo is going around tooting his horn about the Apocalypse, I wanna talk to him.”

Dean got up. Sam hesitated. “Wait,” he said.

“What?”

“Maybe we should stay put for a while.”

“No way. I gotta find this asshole.”

“Dean…”

“Stay here and take care of your friend. She likes you better anyway.”

Sam sighed as he watched his brother leave. What was he expecting?

“He’s brave,” said Lady, once they were alone.

“Or stupid. I’m not sure. How are you holding up?”

Lady nodded. “I’ll be okay, I guess.”

“The feelings you have, can you describe them a little better?”

“It’s fear mostly,” she went on to explain. “There’s a strong sense of terror and I know that this _energy_ is going to kill me. I think maybe I’ve wronged him. I don’t know.”

Sam decided to put his arms around Lady and hold her close. She nuzzled into his chest and closed her eyes. Any kind of comfort was welcome, but this was particularly nice.

* * *

“COME ON OUT!!”

Dean left the house and immediately began to yell down the road. Of course, this was a shot in the dark since Sam didn’t say where the third man was found. Dean didn’t care. He kept his hand on his gun and continued to taunt, listening carefully between shouts for any sound of movement.

“THINK YOU CAN TORMENT MY BROTHER AND GET OFF LIKE THAT?”

He walked further away from the house.

“DON’T BE A COWARD!”

His steps ceased the moment he heard something. Was that a noise? Then it felt as if there was a presence close by. Dean turned around slowly but yelled out when he found the man staring right at him, maybe a foot away.

“Who the hell are you?!” Dean shouted, raising his gun to the trench coat clad man.

“I am in the same position to ask you,” the stranger replied. He looked Dean over slowly, not at all bothered by the gun aimed directly at him.

“I asked first,” Dean retorted.

“You are a human,” the man stated. He took a step closer to Dean and Dean took one back. “The tall one was correct. How many of you are there?”

Reluctantly, Dean tightened his jaw and snapped, “ _Three_.”

“How did you survive?”

“ _I don’t know_.”

Finger on the trigger, Dean kept walking backwards as the man pursued him. The look on his face was impossible to decipher.

“Listen here, buddy,” Dean said, “You tell me who you are and what you’re doing, or I’ll blast a bullet right into your brain.”

A thin smile spread on the man’s lips. He may have chuckled but Dean couldn’t tell; he was too busy keeping aim on him through the slow footsteps.

“I mean it!” Dean roared. “One more step and I’ll shoot!”

“That’s very funny,” the man whispered. He lifted his hand, fingers apart and slightly bent, then casually flicked it as if swiping a very large tablet screen. Dean’s gun was ripped from his grip and went flying.

“Shit…”

The man lowered his hand and tilted his head at Dean, now with a strange air of concern. Dean, however, realized how much he had just stepped in it. Quickly in his head, he recalled the only few details from Revelation that he knew; the end of the world and the existence of Lucifer.

“Oh, God,” Dean said in a hushed, breathless gasp.

“What is the matter?” the stranger asked. He didn’t move anymore.

“You’re—you’re the devil, aren’t you? You just did that whole waking up thing or whatever, and _you_ tore the city apart. And now you’re looking for the rest of the souls to kill.”

The man looked stunned. His eyes widened momentarily and he wet his lower lip. He was deep in thought, a very confused thought.

“The devil?” he asked Dean. “Lucifer?”

Dean nodded in terror. Fear wasn’t a friend of Dean’s, but today they were getting well acquainted.

“I am not Lucifer.”

“How do I know you aren’t lying? Pretty sure the devil is the king of that.”

The man’s upper lip twitched.

“You would know,” he began stiffly, “If your own brother had been killed.”

Dean took a breath here.

“Your brother? Wait, so, you’re…”

“I am Castiel,” he announced, “And I am an angel of the Lord.”

“Angel…you’re an angel?”

“Yes.”

“I always thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos, you know…not some bum-dressed guy who’s picking through a broken city.”

“I _am_ a guardian and I _have_ wings and a halo,” Castiel said rather sternly.

“Then why are you just a guy?”

“Because this is how I translate on Earth.”

“Right…okay…so tell me, angel,” Dean set his hands on his hips, “What happened here? What’s going on?”

“It was the holy Apocalypse,” said Castiel. “We had been trying to prevent it for a while now, but even our best efforts proved wasted.”

“We?”

“Myself and the other angels. They are, unfortunately, all dead.”

Dean winced. “Sorry.”

“That’s all right. It was our destiny to die.”

“How come?”

“When Lucifer is freed, he battles Michael. Only one of them wins.”

“Who won?”

Castiel frowned.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted sadly. “That’s what I have been trying to figure out.”

“So what was your role in this battle?”

“You see, when Lucifer rose from Hell, he brought armies of demons with him. Michael saw this happening and he called for all of the other angels to help him.”

“That’s what all that racket was earlier, huh?”

“I assume.”

“Blue lighting, loud noises.”

“Yes.”

“Jeez, for a battle like that, it certainly didn’t last long.”

“We are ethereal beings. Time exists differently for us. To you on Earth, it was barely over an hour, but for us, it has felt like years of fighting.”

“No shit?”

Castiel narrowed his eyes.

“No, there was no shit.”

“Right,” Dean said with a slow nod. “Uh, anyway, see, me and my brother are still alive. Are there any other people around? More chicks, maybe?”

“As far as I have searched, no. But I’m still looking.”

“What am I supposed to do?!”

“I’m still figuring this out. Humans weren’t supposed to survive.”

“Then who was?”

“That depends on who won.”

“So who won?”

Castiel glared at Dean. “I told you, I don’t know,” he repeated stiffly.

“Okay, okay, fair enough. Listen, Castiel, we’re really in a bind here.”

“How so?”

“Um, we have nowhere to go, barely anything to eat, no running water and we’re pretty much doomed. Since you’re a majestic, heaven sent angel or whatever, is there anything you can do to help us out?”

Castiel scoffed. “Needy,” he said.

Dean stared at him with his mouth open.

“Come on! What else am I supposed to do? I don’t want my brother to die!”

“ _All of my brothers have died!_ ” Castiel suddenly roared. His eyes light up like big blue LEDs and a wind picked up around him. Dean stood his ground, wishing he hadn’t said anything. “ _I have also lost everything!!_ ”

“Sorry! Sorry! Take a chill pill, buddy! I take back what I said!”

The angel settled. He took a deep breath and apologized.

“I, too, have lost my home,” he said, “My family, everything.”

“Then we got something in common.”

“I suppose so.”

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal—we stick together and help each other out as long as you don’t hurt me or my friends.”

Castiel nodded.

“I don’t care much for your kind,” he said, “But you must be special if you managed to survive.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Do you think Dean’s all right?”

“Yeah. He’s Dean, he always is. I wouldn’t worry.”

Lady was still upset, but she was coming around. Sam had been petting her head for a while.

“He seems like a nice brother.”

“Don’t get me wrong, he has his moments. And again, I apologize for the rude comments he made earlier. He can be pretty tactless.”

“It’s fine.”

They remained like that for a few moments until suddenly Lady sat up and looked terrified again. “No, NO!” she cried. “Oh, no!!”

“What? What’s wrong?!”

“He’s coming!!”

“The evil person?”

“Ohhh!!”

Lady sprang back into the corner and covered her eyes.

“Easy, Lady. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Noooo!! NOOOOO!!!”

_BANG BANG BANG!_

“ _Led Zeppelin_!”

Sam looked up. “Relax,” he told Lady, “It’s just Dean.”

“No! No! He brings the beast with him!! Aah! Stop! Stop him!”

Lady was shaking violently as the front door opened. Dean stepped through. Sam peered around the threshold and saw his brother then sighed in relief.

“It’s just Dean, Lady. I promise.”

But then Castiel followed.

“HEY!” Sam shouted.

“It’s cool,” said Dean. “I got all the deets from him.”

Casually, Dean walked into the den with Castiel lagging behind. He saw Lady in the corner and said, “Relax, it’s cool. This guy is an angel, he’s on our side.”

“ _Angel,_ ” Lady mouthed. Her eyes were wide open as she broke into a sudden sweat. Her demeanor changed.

Then Castiel came into the room and pointed at her. His eyes lit up again. Sam stood in front of the woman protectively. “Stop, whatever you’re going to do!” He said.

“Knock it off, Sam,” Dean warned between his teeth.

“You don’t understand,” said Castiel. He raised his open hand to Sam. “You’re foolishly endangering yourself. Move!”

“Wait!” Sam yelled. All the while, Lady was screaming and crying. Dean wasn’t sure what to think.

“Dude, don’t hurt my brother,” he told Castiel.

“If he doesn’t move,” the angel hissed, “Then he will surely die at the hands of this creature.”

“Creature?” Sam gasped. “She’s an innocent woman!”

“FOOL!” Castiel shouted. He swiped his hand to the side and Sam went flying. Dean yelled and jumped to his brother’s aid.

“Sammy! Sammy! You okay?”

“Uggh…I’m fine…”

The knock made Sam slightly delirious. He had hit the wall. Dean tried to sit him up.

“Get this guy out of here,” Sam groaned.

“You are all idiots,” said Castiel. “Humans. All of you.” He pointed at Lady, now angrier than before. “And _you_ , Ruby!”

Sam and Dean exchanged looks. “Ruby?” they both asked.

“Ruby!” Castiel repeated. He raised his hand and Lady (or Ruby, apparently) began to slide up the wall, squirming and crying the whole time.

“Stop it!” Sam shouted. “She didn’t do anything!”

“Hold on, Sam,” Dean interrupted quietly. “He knows more about her than we do. Maybe we should just…”

Sam glared at Dean. He bit his lower lip and nodded in painful agreement.

“I’m sorry, Castiel!” Ruby yelled.

“Sorry? Sorry for killing my brothers and sisters?”

“It was his will! I had no control over it!”

“Hey, wait!” Sam interrupted. Ruby looked at him pathetically, though the rest of her body appeared to be paralyzed by Castiel’s telekinesis. “Who did you kill? What’s going on? Do you remember everything now?”

“I doo-o-oo!” Ruby cried. “The sight of the angel brings it all back to me!”

“What did you do, Ruby?!” Dean asked angrily.

“She is no mere human,” said Castiel. “This is a demon.”

“A demon?!” Both Sam and Dean gasped. Sam felt a little dirty.

“I’m not!” Ruby shouted. “I was! I’m not now! The battle knocked it all out of me!”

At once, Castiel relaxed his hand and Ruby went falling down to the ground. She cried out in pain, clutching her leg. Castiel watched her carefully. “Perhaps she’s right,” he mused. “A true demon wouldn’t feel physical pain like that.”

Teary eyed, Ruby glared at Castiel and said, “I _told_ you! Michael won, that means all the demons are supposed to die. I lived somehow, but I’m not a demon anymore.”

“Michael won?” asked Castiel.

“How do you not know?!”

“I can’t…”

The angel paused here and the room fell silent. Ruby looked at the boys and then back to Castiel, who was calculating a million thoughts per minute. His face fell weak.

“Castiel?” Dean asked. The angel teetered on his heels and appeared to almost fall, but Dean jumped up and grabbed him.

“Maybe I’m forgetting, as well,” Castiel muttered to himself. He put his hand on Dean’s arm for support and stood his ground again. He looked into Dean’s eyes momentarily, and the man saw a glimpse of deep, daunting sadness. It reminded him of the feelings in his own heart since that morning.

“It’s okay,” said Dean. “We’ve all kinda fucked up, we’re all missing our families, but the good news is that we have each other.”

Ruby nodded. She smiled weakly at Sam, who was still unsure of what to think.

“Well,” the younger Winchester began, “I guess Dean has a point. Castiel? You have no family anymore?”

“As far as I know, they were annihilated in the battle.”

“Okay, and Ruby, you don’t have any family either, right?”

“You would know if it there were demons around,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Then let’s be glad about that one,” said Dean. Ruby sighed.

“He’s right,” she said, closing her eyes. A pained look was on her face.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sam.

“The memories of her sins,” said Castiel. He walked over to a chair in the corner and sat down. Dean watched him. “As her amnesia wears off, they will come back more and more.”

“But how can such a nice woman be a demon?” asked Sam. He decided to join her side again. Ruby took his arm and leaned against him for comfort. Castiel winced.

“Demons began as humans,” the angel explained. “They sinned greatly, died and then burned in Hell. After terrestrial eons of suffering, their soul corroded away until nothing but a black heart was left.”

Sam looked at Ruby sadly. “That’s terrible,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t take too much pity,” Castiel warned. “They know what they’ve done.”

Ruby squeezed Sam’s arm and wept quietly. “I don’t know why,” she whined. “ _I don’t know why_.”

“It’s okay,” said Sam. He then turned back to the angel and asked, “She’s not dangerous like this, right?”

“No more than you are.”

“That’s good, then.”

“I suppose.”

“Uh, okay, then,” Dean chimed in here. He put his hands into his pockets and kicked the ground. “So what’s next? We just sit around and feel sorry for ourselves until we die? ‘Cause last I checked, we have nothing.”

Castiel looked pensive and Dean picked up on that right away.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“If Heaven is the victor,” the angel said, essentially thinking aloud, “Then Michael should still be alive.”

“Oh, that’s a good point,” Sam added. “Castiel, do you know what’s supposed to happen when Heaven wins?”

“Yes, of course. Are you familiar at all with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” Castiel continued, looking at his hands, “The battle of the Apocalypse destroys all humans, demons, and nearly all of the angels. Michael survives and he builds a new Garden of Eden. There, he creates a new Adam and Eve to begin the world again.”

“Are you proposing that there’s a Garden of Eden out there right now?” asked Sam.

“That is precisely what I mean.”

“Well giddy-up,” Dean said, throwing himself back into the discussion. “The fuck are we doing sitting around here when we could be finding the Garden of Eden? Isn’t there supposed to be endless food and naked chicks there?”

“Dean, enough,” Sam said.

“What?”

“Dean is correct,” Castiel said. Sam looked at him in surprise. “Although something has clearly gone wrong, since the four of us remain when we aren’t supposed to, it would be logical if we sought out the Garden. I’m sure my brother Michael would be able to find a place for us.”

“But this Garden,” said Sam, “It could be _anywhere,_ right?”

“I will try to listen for any angels,” said Castiel. He got up again and right as the men expected him to continue speaking, he walked out of the front door.

“Oh, he’s not complicated at all,” scoffed Sam.

Dean shrugged. “What am I supposed to do,” he moaned.

“I don’t know.”

They hunkered down for the evening after a _wonderful_ meal of lukewarm canned beans. Dean was committed to keeping at least mildly clean, so he went out back with a couple bottles of water, a bar of soap and a pack of wipes to wash up as best as he could. After that, he walked to the front of the house, where Castiel was standing motionless.

“Since there’re only two beds,” he said to the angel, “Sam and I have decided to sleep in shifts. We can rotate with you in—“

“I don’t need to sleep,” Castiel interrupted plainly.

“Oh. Okay. _Cool_.” Dean wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Then you’ll just stay out here all day and night?”

“That’s precisely what I plan to do.”

“Interesting. Okay. Well, I’ll get my first few hours and we’ll go from there. If you ‘hear’ anything, let us know.”

“I will.”

“Thanks.”

While Dean was busy, Sam and Ruby had their own kind of business to discuss.

“You truly don’t mind what I’ve done?” Ruby asked.

“No. As long as you don’t do it anymore, assuming it was pretty bad.”

Ruby sighed. “It was. And I won’t. First of all, I can’t do most of it anymore even if I wanted to. But second, the pain is too great.”

“I’m real sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Sam smiled to himself and put his arms around her. “I have such a hard time believing you ever did anyone wrong. You’re so sweet and gentle.”

“Pah.”

“What? You are.”

Ruby looked away coyly. “Maybe. I don’t know. I guess having the evil sucked out of you makes you overcompensate.”

“Well I like it.”

He kissed her on the cheek.

“What were you like, before the Apocalypse?” Ruby asked. Sam frowned sadly.

“I was in college, living with Dean and our foster father. I _had_ a girlfriend, but she broke up with me.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated. I wish I knew she would have been my last one. Maybe I could have done things differently and kept her.”

Even that provided no relief to poor Sam. Jess was dead, after all, dating him or not. It hurt him to think about it.

“Oh, I see,” Ruby said with a little nod. She took Sam’s hand between both of hers and gave a fragile squeeze. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t mind being your last.”

Sam closed his eyes and forced a smile. That was sweet, very sweet, even if it reminded him that the end was near. He kissed her on the lips this time and whispered, “I like that.”

“I’ve never had an official partner,” Ruby admitted.

“How come?”

“It’s not exactly the norm for demons.”

“Then what do you do?”

“We rape and pillage. Whatever the King of Hell says, actually. We’re just his soldiers. The same way that the angels follow what God tells them.”

Pensively, Sam pressed his lips together and took in a deep breath. That was pretty insightful and it got his brain juices flowing.

“Do you suppose Castiel is getting orders from God even still?”

Ruby shrugged.

“Hard to tell. You’d have to ask him. Michael won, but the other angels are dead. Castiel acts like he’s lost, though, so maybe the man upstairs called it quits.”

“And the King of Hell? Where is he?”

“Oh, he died. I know that for sure because I was there.”

“How do you feel about that? Lost, too?”

“No, not exactly. I don’t know what the relationship is like for angels and God, but for demons? We have to _serve_ our King. It’s not fun and it’s not enjoyable.” Here, Ruby paused to shudder. Sam hugged her close. “Bad behavior earned our ranks as Hell’s foot soldiers. Oh, sure, the King makes it up to sound like we _won_ that position, but it’s really a failure.”

“You’re very thoughtful for someone who lived like this up until recently.”

“I guess I am!” Ruby admitted, sparkling with a touch of confidence. “I can’t explain why. Maybe ‘cause I’m free from my shackles?”

“I don’t know, but I like it. For what it’s worth, I really like you.”

“I really like you, too, Sam. A shame we’re just going to die.”

Sam sighed. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It is.”


	6. Chapter 6

 

Three days passed in that house; three grueling, filthy, uncomfortable days. Castiel remained on the porch while Sam, Dean and Ruby did all they could to get by, waiting for the angel to come up with _something_.

“I can’t believe I’m actually putting my trust into an angel,” Ruby groaned. It was quite late and they had just finished a dish that Dean threw together (it wasn’t that bad, all things considered, for corned beef hash with canned vegetables and easy cheese).

“I can’t believe he’s actually an angel,” Sam added.

“I can’t believe he hasn’t bathed but he’s still perfectly clean,” Dean said, sighing an oddly dreamy sigh at the end. Sam stared at him. “What?”

“Nothing. Let’s just turn in for the night. Dean, you want first watch or second?”

“Guess I’ll take first.”

Dean let out a grunt and left the den. He had washed underwear earlier and left it to dry on the porch, so he decided to check on that. Castiel was in his usual place, staring at the city with his arms hanging by his side. Dean stepped out silently and groped at his hanging boxer briefs.

“Ugh. Almost.”

“What is the issue?” Castiel asked in a deadpan.

“Nothing. You wouldn’t understand.”

“ _Human things_ ,” Castiel muttered.

“Hey, what did I tell you about mocking?”

“I’m hardly mocking.”

“Can’t help it that I’m human. Sorry I have feelings and all that shit.”

“There’s no reason to apologize for something you have no control over.”

“Right.” Dean took a few steps around the angel and looked him over. “Sure you don’t need any sleep?”

“I’ve never once, in all of my eons of existence, needed any sleep.”

“Damn. Wish I could say the same thing.”

“Mm.”

Dean squinted at Castiel, desperate for eye contact. “What’s with you?”

“What?”

“You can’t have _any_ emotional depth?”

“What you call ‘depth,’ my kind considers to be a distraction.”

Dean sighed. “Sucks for you, then.”

“Explain.”

“Don’t you wonder what it’s like to be happy?”

“No.”

“When we met, you seemed pretty angry. That’s an emotion.”

“I have a limited range.”

Dean let out a stiff groan but Castiel ignored it.

“You’ve never wondered how it feels?”

“No.”

“Okay, okay. I’m just gonna hang out inside.”

“Do as you please.”

Annoyed, Dean dragged himself into the house once more and spent the next couple hours going through crap and planning their next possible move. If Castiel didn’t make any progress soon, they should probably get on the road again regardless, since there could be more people out there, or possibly something watching them and taking note.

Eventually Sam woke up and switched off with Dean. Ruby kept snoozing about an hour after that, but then she awoke and stayed up with Sam. It was close to three in the morning (there was a battery operated clock still functioning in the house) and their hushed voices made the only sound.

“I had terrible dreams,” Ruby said.

“What about?”

“Just my past, again.”

“Oh. Aah, I’m sorry.”

“There’s not much I can do about it.”

Feeling low and relatively hopeless, particularly with the overarching worry of their eventual demise, Sam and Ruby managed to fix an early meal and eat without disturbing Dean.

“Do you think Castiel will pick up anything?” Sam asked.

“If he can listen far enough, probably. There has got to be more angels around. The question is if he hears them in time.”

Sam sighed. “And if they’re close enough for us to reach, assuming they can even help out.”

Ruby made a small sound of protest, which Sam agreed to in his head. It wouldn’t do much good to keep whining about their doom. They finished eating then went back to the den to rest without sleeping. Sitting on the larger bed, Ruby watched Dean toss about in his sleep.

“Is he holding up okay? For Dean…”

“I think so,” Sam replied. “It can be hard to tell. He likes to bottle up his feelings.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, yeah, it does.”

“I’m glad you’re more open.”

Hiding a smile, Sam leaned his head against Ruby’s and said, “I try to be, but I can’t promise that I always am.”

“Trying counts,” she said. “That’s all we can do now, anyway.”

Sam took Ruby’s face into his hands and kissed her without any lead in. She melted into his arms and returned the kiss, so desperate yet timid about it. A little grunt came from Sam as he opened his mouth to kiss her deeper, and while they expanded their passion, Dean happened to wake up.

“Aww, whuddufuck,” he moaned, opening his eyes to the sight of them making out.

Sam broke the kiss off and stared at Dean in shock. “Sorry!” he apologized quickly. “I thought you would be out longer!”

“You make out in front of my sleeping body?” Dean asked, rubbing his eyes. “Damn.”

He got up and walked out of the den, dismissing the couple with a limp wrist flick. Still overwhelmingly groggy, he went outside to check on his underwear. “Awesome,” he said to himself. They were dry.

“Why does he do that?”

“WHA!”

Dean completely forgot that Castiel was out there. He turned, clutching the clean underwear to his chest and saw the angel looking into the den’s window.

“Don’t peep, that’s rude,” he said.

“But why?” Castiel continued. “Why does he touch her in such a way?”

Dean took a deep breath and walked over to Castiel’s side. “I think he forgives her for the whole demon thing,” he said.

“No, not that—what is the point of the touching?”

“I dunno,” Dean said with a shrug, “Because they like each other. It’s a sign of affection. ‘Human things’ as you like to call it.”

“Ah.”

Castiel was quite focused on watching Sam and Ruby kissing each other. He looked confused. His brow was wrinkled and his eyes so narrow that the fine creases in his face doubled.

“Enough,” Dean said. He grabbed Castiel’s arm and tugged him away from the window. “People don’t like being watched.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Privacy. Don’t you get the idea of _privacy?_ ”

"No.”

“You know when one of us has to take a piss, and we go way out in the backyard so nobody sees us?”

“Yes.”

“That’s because we need _privacy_.”

Castiel was still quite confused.

“You’re hopeless,” said Dean.

Before he could say anything else, all of the confusion washed away and Castiel suddenly looked alert. He turned away from the house and widened his eyes.

“What? What?” Dean asked.

“I hear something,” the angel said.

“Really?! What?!”

“It’s the cry of an angel, I’m certain. We must go.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Get Sam and Ruby.”

“Argh, hold on, hold on.”

With a loud grunt, Dean went back inside and interrupted the little moment that Sam and Ruby were having.

“Really, Dean?” Sam asked when his brother showed up.

“It’s Castiel—he said he hears something.”

Sam suddenly perked up and looked less annoyed. “Seriously? What?”

“Says it’s an angel. I dunno. But he’s insisting on us leaving now.”

“Leaving leaving?”

“Let me ask him."

Castiel suggested that they bring everything necessary with them, since returning could put them at additional risk. They loaded Dean’s truck with whatever they could fit in the bed then the four piled in.

“Hey, hey!” Dean snapped when Castiel went to sit up front. “That’s Sam’s spot.”

“I dunno, Dean,” said Sam. “If we’re following his ears, maybe he should take it? I’d rather sit with Ruby, anyway.”

“Ugh. Okay.”

With the angel in shotgun, Dean started the engine and went off in the direction that Castiel told him. It took them out of the city and they drove on for several miles.

“I gotta watch my gas,” said Dean. “And we need to figure out how we’ll get more. This tank won’t last the rest of our lives…hopefully.”

Castiel has his first two fingers held against his temple, eyes closed and lips pressed together and he listened and listened for the distress signal. He wouldn’t say much except “keep going” or “turn here” every now and then. Sam and Ruby stayed quiet in the back. They didn’t want to get in the way.

Watching their city fade away was odd and daunting. The sun wasn’t up yet and the entire world was dark, illuminated only by Dean’s headlights. As far as they could tell, the land surrounding the city was fairly beat up, too. Most of the natural parts such as trees, grass and whatnot, were left whole—but Sam noted a couple spots that had clearly been singed in battle.

Eventually they drove into what used to be a tiny town on the outskirts of the suburbs. Piles of smoldering rubble and crumbled buildings replaced gas stations and roadside motels. Abandoned cars were peppered through every street, some with burnt bodies inside (Dean was thankful that they were burned to ash and not left as rotten corpses).

“Is it around here?” Sam asked Castiel.

“Aah, I’m losing it,” the angel replied with a wince. “I think she has stopped.”

“She?” Dean added. “Do you know her?”

“I’m not sure, I—aah—no, it’s gone for now.”

“Damn. What do we do? Can’t go back to our old place.”

“It’ll come back, I bet,” Sam tried to reassure everyone. He looked out of his window and sighed. But then he saw something. “Wait, Dean! Stop the truck. Look!”

Down a small road to the side was what appeared to be a flicker of light.

“No way!” Dean shouted. He turned onto the road immediately and proceeded with caution. “Fire?”

“It can’t possibly be—electricity—right?” Sam hesitated to say such a beautiful and precious word.

As they approached, it was clear the light was within a tiny house, hiding among trees and old cars. The closer they got, they could confirm that it was indeed electricity. There was a light on inside the house!

“Then it’s people! It’s gotta be people!” Dean said. “Maybe they have a working shower!”

He parked in the driveway and went to get out, but Sam stopped him. “Wait,” he warned, “We don’t know who they are. Maybe they’re demons?”

“I sense no demonic energies here,” Castiel interrupted.

“Oh, okay, thanks, Castiel,” said Sam. “But still, they don’t know who we are. So let’s just be careful.”

“Right, right.”

All four of them decided to get out and approach the house. There was a loud hum coming from the back. Dean kept his gun handy as he knocked. Nothing. They waited for a moment then knocked again.

“Anybody home?” Dean called out. “We’re just people. People who lived. Any other people inside?”

The doorknob made a clunk and the whole thing slowly, slowly opened. Dean tried to peer inside, but the moment he got close, a hand stuck out and splashed his face with water.

“The fuck! What gives?!”

Then the door opened all the way and a young blonde woman stood there, a rifle in her hands aimed at Dean.

“Are you a demon?!” she asked angrily.

“No! Swear I’m not!”

“What about your friends?”

She pointed the gun at Sam, then Ruby, and finally Castiel.

“No, promise! Who the hell are you?”

“Why should I tell you?” the woman barked. “How did you live and what are you doing here?”

“We don’t know how we lived,” Sam interrupted here. “This whole thing just happened and we survived. I’m Sam, and this is my brother Dean. This is our friend, Ruby, who we met after the events, and then Castiel, another—“

“ _Castiel?_ ” the woman asked, looking astonished. She lowered her gun and stared at the trench coat-clad man.

“Yes.”

“You’re an angel, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

Sam and Dean exchanged weird looks.

“What’s going on here?” Dean asked. “How do you know about demons and angels? Sam and I learned about this shit just after the crap all went down.”

The young woman pressed her lips together and looked Dean over. “My mama raised me right,” she said with a hint of sass in her voice. Dean didn’t know how to respond to that. “I’m impressed that you found an angel.”

“He sorta found us,” said Sam. “But actually, how do you know Castiel is an angel?”

“Because _we_ found an angel and she mentioned him.”

Castiel gained a sudden spark of interest. He stepped forward towards the woman with a sparkle in his eye. “Where? Where did you find an angel?!” he asked almost desperately.

“Calm down,” the woman said coolly. “I’ll take you to her. Come in. I’m Jo, by the way.”

The gang followed Jo inside the house, through the living room and down into the basement. All things considered, the house was in fantastic shape.

“How do you have electricity running?” asked Sam, as the five descended the basement stairs.

“Generator.”

“How do you have the gas for it?”

Jo cleared her throat then looked back at Sam. “My mama raised me right,” she repeated, just as sassy as earlier.

“No, honestly, did you guys know about the Apocalypse or something?”

“I’ll tell you later. Here’s the angel.”

The basement was an odd room, all concrete with very little furniture save for a couple shelves and chairs. On the floor in the very center was a large pentagram, painted in bright red. In the middle was an empty chair, but off to the side and out of the pentagram there was also a small bed. A woman was laying on it, and the moment Castiel saw her, he ran to her side.

“Hannah, Hannah!” he shouted, staring at the woman. She was thin with dark hair and wore a grey suit, stained with strange black blood and substance that looked like mercury.

“... _Castiel?”_ her faint voice asked. Sam, Dean and Ruby stood back and watched the angels in silence. Jo seemed oddly interested.

“Were you sending out the distress signals?”

“Yes, I’m glad you…I’m glad you heard them…”

“What has happened to you?”

Castiel actually looked worried. His eyes were shiny and his skin had turned pale. Strangely enough, his voice was still fairly monotonous.

Hannah didn’t answer.

“Where is Michael?” Castiel answered.

“Michael is dead,” said Hannah, bitterly. Castiel paused.

“Who has won?”

“Oh, Castiel…how can you be so ignorant?”

“How am I being ignorant? Who has won? Are there any orders?”

“Orders? How can there be orders? The angels are dead, Castiel.”

“Then…then Lucifer walks among us?”

Sam shifted in his heels at this statement, and he also took a quick look at Ruby. Despite their closeness, he wondered if there was still a demonic side that would thrill at her lord rising.

“No. Lucifer is dead.”

“How, then? Who has won?”

“There is no winner, Castiel!” Hannah barked, perhaps with the last ounce of strength within her. It was unclear what had happened to her. “Michael and Lucifer killed each other at the same moment. How did you not know? The angels and demons then rampaged, thinking that one side could still win.”

“How many survived?”

“I thought I was the only one.”

“So then, the Garden…”

“It has not been made. All hope is lost.”

“But why have these humans survived?”

“Luck, I would say,” Hannah sighed. “Castiel, please, don’t lose your strength trying to save them.”

“What do you mean?”

Here, Hannah opened the front of her suit jacket. There was a large wound, but instead of blood there was a bright beam of blue light. It flickered and hummed. Castiel saw it and held his breath. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

“I have been working with this female human for a while now,” Hannah explained, gesturing towards Jo weakly. “We had been attempting to stop the seals from being opened. But then we failed and the Apocalypse began. I tried to protect her, thinking we might have a fighting chance, and we hid down here through the battles. When all had finished, we approached the surface only to find one demon remaining. It attacked and I tried to protect Jo, but the demon was stronger than I expected. It ran away and left me in such a state.”

“Then I can heal you.”

“ _No_ ,” Hannah said sternly. Castiel raised his hand and put it towards the other angel, but she pushed him aside. “You can’t. Your grace is limited. Your power will fade.”

“Then…are you saying…”

“God is dead, Castiel. And soon shall we all be. Don’t waste your last energy on me. Let me die.”

“If we are to die, why does it matter?”

Hannah winced. “There must be something that can be done,” she said weakly. “There must be _something_.”

She said nothing more. The light in her chest quickly faded and Castiel yelled her name a few more times, but to no avail. Clearly, the angel was passing on.

“I didn’t know angels could die like that,” Sam whispered to Ruby.

“Of course they can,” she said, “But I just wonder where they go if God is dead.”

 

 

 


End file.
